November 22, 2010

Discrimination Claim Against Office of Special Counsel Tossed Out

A federal judge in Washington has dismissed a complaint filed by a woman whose job was to take complaints from whistleblowers, but who claimed she herself was a victim of retaliation.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said the allegations by the woman, Natresha Dawson, are “insufficient to raise an issue for trial.” He granted summary judgment in favor of Dawson’s employer, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency with responsibilities that include protecting federal whistleblowers.

“Dawson has merely presented a number of conclusory statements unsupported by any evidence in the record, aside from her own self-serving affidavits, mischaracterizes evidence contained in the record, and contests facts that are simply immaterial to resolving the defendant’s motion,” Leon wrote in a 15-page opinion entered Friday.

Dawson, who is black, filed her initial complaint with the court in July 2007, alleging discrimination based on race and sex and violations of the Whistleblower Protection Act. She alleged that her supervisor looked at her in a sexual manner and denied her a flexible work schedule, among other things.

Richard Condit of the Government Accountability Project represented Dawson, while Kevin Mikolashek of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia represented Acting Special Counsel William Reukauf and his predecessor, Scott Bloch. Neither Condit nor Mikolashek returned calls for comment.

In October 2008, Bloch submitted his resignation after a stormy tenure during which several of his employees alleged retaliation and other wrongdoing by him. Dawson’s complaint, though, does not take aim at Bloch directly. Bloch is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to lying to Congress.